South Africa recorded 273 new confirmed Covid-19 infections on Tuesday and 15 deaths, bringing the confirmed death toll to 89 504.

According to a statement by the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), as of Tuesday, the country recorded 2 926 348 laboratory-confirmed cases.

"The NICD…reports that 273 new Covid-19 cases have been identified in South Africa, representing a 0.9% positivity rate," the NICD statement read.

According to the Department of Health, 24 216 614 vaccine doses have been administered. Of those, 134 586 were administered in the last 24-hour reporting cycle. To date, 13 538 623 adults are fully vaccinated, and 309 995 children have received one vaccine dose.

As of Tuesday, Gauteng recorded 921 036 confirmed Covid-19 cases, KwaZulu-Natal 516 263 and the Western Cape 514 249.

NICD spokesperson Sinenhlanhla Jimoh said the majority of new cases recorded on Tuesday were from Gauteng with 54%, followed by the Western Cape with 11%. KwaZulu-Natal accounted for 10%; the Free State 7%; Mpumalanga 6%; North West 4%; the Eastern Cape and Northern Cape 3% each; and Limpopo 1%.

Gauteng recorded 148 new cases on Tuesday, the Western Cape 31 and KwaZulu-Natal 27.

There were 35 new hospital admissions in the last 24-hour cycle. As of Tuesday, 3 599 people were in hospital with Covid-19.

South Africa conducted 18 962 806 cumulative tests, of which 29 650 were carried out in the last 24-hour cycle.